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There is nothing more confusing than the experience of being a teenager, something that is only worsened by the lack of sympathy from adults while in the throes of puberty, social growing pains and crippling anxiety about the way you look and everything that comes out of your mouth. Your head becomes an echo chamber full of unchecked negativity and self-deprecating thoughts, growing critical of parts of yourself you never noticed but now suddenly loathe, whether it be a dimple, spot or the way you pronounce a certain word. The playground becomes a battlefield, and nothing is more concerning to you than the idea of standing out, pleading with benign higher forces to be cool, popular, invisible.

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MILFORD, Mass. (WBZ) – An 18-year-old high school student, who is undocumented but has lived in Massachusetts since he was 5, was detained by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the way to volleyball practice.

Four Milford High School students were on their way to volleyball practice Saturday morning when three unmarked vehicles carrying ICE agents pulled up behind them. At least two of the students in the car were undocumented, including the driver, 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes.

The other undocumented student in the car at the time spoke out about the incident. He asked to remain anonymous. He says that they weren’t doing anything wrong to warrant being pulled over.

“An ICE officer stepped out of his vehicle, knocked on the window and asked what his documentation was,” the student said.

The agents interrogated the car full of students about their documentation before taking Gomes, who is a high school junior, into custody. The other undocumented student says he was not taken into custody by ICE because he is underage.

“That’s kind of when emotion hit, and I started crying… Tears just started coming down my eyes,” the student said.

The student says he is now afraid all his hard work in school and being a good member of the community is in jeopardy.

“I always knew this to be a system that kicks out undocumented people for committing crimes, and now, it’s a system that will just kick you out based on your status,” he said.

Milford Police say they were not informed ICE would by carrying out this operation, and Milford Public Schools Superintendent Kevin McIntyre said the following in a statement:

“The Milford Public Schools play no part in immigration enforcement and support all of our students and families, including those who are immigrants to the United States. They are members of the community, students in our classrooms, athletes that compete representing Milford, musicians, artists, friends, and neighbors.”

Family members say Gomes has lived in the Milford area since he was 5 years old.

“It’s kind of heartbreaking, and Marcelo is such a kind person. He’s the last person that this should be happening to. His siblings are so young, and they’re asking questions like whether they’re ever going to see him again,” said Gomes’ cousin, Ana Julia Araujo.

Araujo says Gomes is currently being held at an ICE detention center in Burlington.

Hundreds rallied Sunday in support of Gomes, including members of Milford High School’s Class of 2025, who marched down the street in their caps and gowns after graduation. Gomes is a member of the school band and was set to play drums at the ceremony.

“Marcelo was a good kid. He was excited for his future. He did absolutely nothing wrong. He was innocently going to a practice, and he was targeted,” said Gomes’ girlfriend, Julianys Rentas.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, also spoke out against Gomes’ detention.

“I’m demanding that ICE provide immediate information about why he [Gomes] was arrested, where he is and how his due process is being protected. My heart goes out to the Milford community on what was supposed to be a celebratory graduation day. The Trump Administration continues to create fear in our communities, and it’s making us all less safe,” said Healey in a statement.

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Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey took to social media Sunday evening to demand answers after ICE agents arrested a high school student heading to volleyball practice over the weekend.

The student, 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes, is a junior at Milford High School in Milford, Massachusetts. 

In her post, Healey says she is “disturbed and outraged” and that she wants answers immediately explaining why the student was taken into immigration enforcement’s custody.

“I’m demanding that ICE provide immediate information about why he was arrested, where he is and how his due process is being protected,” she s.

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People walked to Milford High School’s graduation ceremony on June 1, 2025. Several ICE arrests were made in Milford on Saturday, including a Milford High student who was detained on his way to volleyball practice.  (Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

In the post she blames the Trump admin for what she describes as an attempt to create fear.

“The Trump Administration continues to create fear in our communities, and it’s making us all less safe,” her post states.

In her statement, Healey claims that the student was detained on Saturday without any warning or subsequent explanation provided to state officials.

“Yet again, local officials and law enforcement have been left in the dark with no heads up and no answers to their questions,” she said.

The community gathered to protest outside of Milford on Sunday. Hundreds demanded Gomes be set free and that ICE stop harassing members of their community.

Milford High School graduates protest outside of Milford Town Hall a day after 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes Da Silva was detained by ICE on his way to volleyball practice.  (Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

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U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, a Democrat who represents Milford in Congress, attended the protest and made note on X that Gomes was “enrolled in honors classes, a coaching assistant for girls volleyball [and] player for boys volleyball, and a member of the school band.” 

“This administration has its public safety priorities backwards. It pardons cop-beaters from Jan. 6 but detains high-school volleyball players. It makes gun-purchaser background checks harder while pushing for tax breaks to buy silencers for pistols. This reckless behavior does not make the residents of Milford safer, and I stand with the community in support of law [and] order,” he wrote.

U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, a Democrat who represents Milford in Congress, attended the protest and made note on X that Gomes was “enrolled in honors classes, a coaching assistant for girls volleyball [and] player for boys volleyball, and a member of the school band.”  ( Rep. Jake Auchincloss on X)

Milford School District Superintendent Kevin McIntyre says that Gomes’ detention is one of many apprehensions to take place in the southern Massachusetts community.

McIntyre says the district cannot take any role in immigration enforcement, but they will “support all of our students and families, including those who are immigrants to the United States.”

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“They are members of the community, students in our classrooms, athletes that compete representing Milford, musicians, artists, friends, and neighbors. We will do everything in our power to support our students and families during these difficult times,” he said in his statement.

Sunday morning was Milford High School’s graduation and Healey says a day of celebration has now been tarnished.

“My heart goes out to the Milford community on what was supposed to be a celebratory graduation day,” she said.

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